MittelstandsWiki

Many consumers are sceptical when it comes to shopping on the internet. In contrast to shopping in the real world purchasers have difficulties in judging whether they can trust sellers. Therefore, it is not surprising that a survey by the GfK association for research of consumer habits revealed that to 63.3% of internet buyers a seal of quality is “important” or „very important“ for shopping online. +++

The number of high-tech companies set up in 2007 was higher than in previous years. Their number increased by 4% as compared to the year 2006 and reached a total of 19,200. The reason for this is probably a particularly good economic development in the high-tech sector since in almost all other lines of industry the number of newly founded companies was decreasing. However, the record number of start-ups reached in 1995 was still not attained in 2007. +++

Turnover generated by the German wholesale trade business grew significantly in April this year. It increased by 15.7% and 9.3% in nominal and real figures respectively as compared to April last year. In comparison with March 2008 it increased by 1.3% and 0.2% respectively after adjustments for calendar and season. These are the preliminary findings by the Federal Statistical Office. +++

Employers currently find one in four new employees through newspaper job advertisements. This is the surprising finding of a survey carried out by the Institute for Labour Market and Profession Research (IAB). In the year 2004 when the demand for new staff was lacking only 20% of vacancies were filled through newspaper job ads. +++

In order to fight a lack of specialists in the field of mechanical engineering, electrical and information technology, the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) supports measures to improve the further training for engineers which due to family obligations did not work for a longer period of time. The new project called “return2job” will operate in the fields of informatics, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering qualifying engineers over a period of 15 months. +++

In April 2008 import prices were 5.7% higher than in April last year. This was the same annual increase as in March. In comparison with March 2008 the prices for imports increased by 0.9%. Prices grew most for energy carriers (+36.1%) over the last year. Export prices were up by 2.2% in April as compared to April 2007. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the export price index increased by 0.3% in comparison with March 2008. +++